Interesting twist on Religion and discrimination

An interesting story out of Des Moines, courtesy of The Muslim News (courtesy of AP):

A Muslim woman who claims she was denied employment after she refused to remove a head scarf worn for religious reasons is accusing a Des Moines convenience store chain of violating her religious rights.

Here we have the corollary of a situation, involving Catholicism and Equal Employment Opportunity laws, that The Accuser brought up a few months ago. Is it really discrimination, or is it indulgence of religion?

I suspect that if a hasidic Jew came in for the job, wanted to wear a full black outfit, with tallis and a wide-brimmed hat, that Git-N-Go might say no as well. But is a conservative Jew came in, wearing only a yarmulka, there might not be such a big stink.

The truth, of course, in that case, is that is hypocrisy. You can't allow one type of religious garb (because it is more discreet) and not allow another. It's either all or nothing.

It's a difficult question to answer. On one hand, America is about freedom, to wear whatever stupid costume you might be inclined to don. I live in New York. I am well aware of stupid costumes. And I never liked the idea of judging a person on what they wear, even though that is usually, especially when it comes to people dressing up in the uniform of their particular subculture, rather accurate.

On the other hand, are two sides: First, that by allowing people to wear religious garb, we indulge religion. It's an example of how we can have something directly in our face (a silly hat, some robe, a turban, a smear of ash on your forehead) that embodies the absurdity of religion, and yet fail to acknowledge it as such. We should not indulge religion, in any of its manifestations.

Second, we should cease to categorize any deviance in behavior (like costumes, or rituals) as different than a secular behavior. Drinking wine at communion is no different than drinking wine with dinner. Performing a bris with oral suction (metzitzah b'peh) is no different than , forgive the crudeness, a man wrapping his lips around an infants penis.

A quick summary of the issue, but I think enough to lay it out. As much as I feel sorry for this woman for being discriminated against (and I suspect there may have been other factors at play against her), it is not the rest of society's responsibility to make room for her "faith." It is religion that needs to start accommodating society, not the other way around.

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